Legend of Zelda: Risen from the Depths
by Vuxxa
Summary: What if something different happened atop Ganon's Tower and King Daphnes Hyrule was blocked from showing up? A different wish was made and the future of the Hylians now lies in their old lands, no longer covered by the Great Sea. Now a new Link must embark on his own quest to save these ancient lands yet again. AU
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker is in no way owned by me, nor have I ever claimed I do. The Zelda universe is the property of Nintendo.

AN: This is an idea that just popped into my head and I thought it sounded good. This is just a prologue and does not reflect the length of any possible future chapter, it's obviously very short.

* * *

Link, barely hanging on to consciousness, grit his teeth in determination. He could already hear Ganandorf's insane laughter. The hero watched as the man slowly made his way towards the completed Triforce. The urgency of the situation increasing as he clenched his fist and forced himself up. With determination he rose from the hard stone floor and made his way towards the Master Sword, uncorking a bottle and drinking some of the blue colored potion. His aches disappeared and energy returned.

Though he couldn't help but note a feeling in the air now that his head's clear and body refreshed. There was a pressure in the air, through the hero shrugged it off, attributing it to the power of the Triforce.

Grabbing the Master Sword and hurrying over to the nearby form of and unconscious Princess Zelda. He knelt beside her, she seemed to be relatively fine, if he steady breathing was any indication. The pre-teen hero looked from her to the form of Ganondorf confidently walking towards the golden triangle. He was going to help Zelda and stop the King of Evil.

Uncorking another bottle and letting a small fairy drift over the princess' body. He then rushed towards the dark king, putting the bottle back and raising his, and raising his sword. With Ganondorf only inches from touching the Triforce and having his wish granted, Link yelled with the swing of the sword. Ganondorf spins around in surprise, the Master Sword slicing across his chest. The holy energies burning through the red-haired mans.

His eyes filling with anger and pain, he acted in rage. Two swords slid down from his sleeves. The 7 and a half-foot tall man swung his right sword up. Luckily Link was already thrusting his sword down to intercept it. Ganondorf's second swing being intercepted by the green clad hero's Mirror Shield. The boy cringed from the shock traveling down his arms from the physically imposing man's blows.

Using this brief moment before the dark king attacked again, Link rolled to the left, getting around the man, and coming up with an upward swing. The evil king stumbling forward, feeling yet another bite from the blade of evil's bane. His inhuman, enhanced, body surviving yet another, normally fatal, blow.

* * *

The battle atop Ganon's Tower continued on, quickly joined by Zelda, who helped out with the use of Link's bow and light arrows. The king of evil becoming harder to hit as the fight wore on. Eventually ending, with The Master Sword, Blade of Evil's Bane, being imbedded into Ganondorf's forehead. The holy energies somehow tuning the evil king's body to stone.

The former king of Hyrule could only watch as a wish was made and the lands beneath the waves restored. The old king lowered his head in resignation "If only I could have gotten through that putrid man's barrier." He let out a saddened sigh. "So the fight for this land must continue as it always has. For Ganondorf will come back someday. As he always does. And so will I continue unnaturally."


	2. Chapter 1: Another Day

Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker is in no way owned by me, nor have I ever claimed I do. The Zelda universe is the property of Nintendo.

* * *

It's been over four hundred years since the defeat of the evil sorcerer king, Ganondorf, plague of Hyrule. On that day the Great Sea began to drain and within a week all of that ancient land was revealed, spread out before the former islands. The people celebrated, the lands of their ancestors were now returned to them. Soon after, people made their way to the bases of their home mountains, creating extensions of the towns and cities, as well as opening up much-needed farm lands.

Many of the island cities were filled to the brink, and had before been forced to send colonies to vacant islands. But there was only so far they could go with that method, as food was as much a concern as overpopulating the islands. Keeping enough farm lands, with only relatively small islands, with increasing populations, is difficult. Now with vast new lands open to them, there was a population explosion. So the lower cities began. Sprawling out from the bottoms of the mountain while people of the upper cities still lived on their much less congested mountain tops.

Over the years the populations grew, as well as the culture, and living on islands surrounded by a great, vast ocean, became a distant memory, history taught in schools, and discussed by scholars. And Hyrule existed again as it had before, the castle repaired and ruled over by the old royal line. A walled city forming around the royal dwelling, and life continuing on.

* * *

Link has just finished another military grade spear. Things were going just like any other day. Making swords, spears, axes, maces, and armor pieces. Warsmiths were very busy now a days, with the slowly spreading unrest across the kingdom. Cities and towns now needed more guards to defend against raids from bands of rebels, as well as the strange creatures spreading across the land.

Of course warsmiths always had work before, cities were always growing and needed more guards, mostly to police the population. Of course there are also some fortresses scattered around the Hyrule, mostly to offer more protection to less populated rural areas, of course before they were there "just in case". Then there were the patrols and stations along the boarders, which is mostly to the cold north, and the forested regions to the south-east.

It was around noon, the sun was streaming in through one of the small round widows about ten feet up by the ceiling. Link was drenched in sweat from the high temperatures of all the flames going strong as well as from the steam. He learned during his apprenticeship to forego shirts.

He stopped to wipe his brow as a steel sword he started earlier now sat cooling in water, which added more steam to the room. Link let his muscles, tensed from the constant work, relax for just a moment. "Well, that should be enough." Link said as he pulled the sword back from the water and began putting the finishing touches on the weapon. He continued to work as usual, along with the men who worked for him, until the last bits of the sun were left peeking over the horizon. Most of Castle Town nothing but a shadowed crater, due to the walls, except for the taller buildings that still have an orange glow.

The warsmith left his large one story smithy, greeting a guard on patrol that he knew from when he was a guard, as every man has to serve at least a year. Link paused before entering his home across the street, '_I should probably head over to the market before it closes', _he thought before he heard something in a nearby alley.

He looked between the buildings to see a grey robed figure lowering the body of a guard. Link barely kept in a gasp, _'Why would somebody do this?!', _his eyes narrowed at a thought, _'A rebel!'. _The concealed figure looks up in that moment, seeing Link, the figure takes a couple of steps back in surprise before drawing a sword. The robed figure, now recognized as a man, charges at the dark red shirted warsmith in fury. The robed man swung horizontally, arrogance clouding his mind, assured that the end of the red garbed pest is at hand. Link dove under the swing, immediately springing back up behind the assailant. The man overbalancing himself, at first confused over the lack of resistance against his blade, then realizing what had happened before berating himself for over confidence. The man began to turn but Link was already in action, kicking him in the back and darting toward the downed guard.

The guard's spear now in Link's grasp as he spoke a quick prayer for its former wielder's soul. Turning towards the guard's killer, Link charged, his thrust canceling the robed man's swing, then forcing the sword to the ground. Link then brought up the blunt end of the shaft, striking the rebel in the side of the head, causing him to stumble in pain. The warsmith quickly thrust, intending to end fight, but surprisingly, the man recovered in enough time to roll under the attack and come up with a diagonal slash. Link caught this attack with his spear, but the rebel grab the weapon as he rose up, pulling Link to him. The warsmith sidestepped the attack, keeping his grip on the spear, and used his superior strength to slam the assailant into a wall. The rebel's eyes stared straight at the warsmith, who noticed something strange in the way they looked, as he jerked the spear back, forcing the man forward to meet his knee. Link's assailant retched, nearly collapsing from the blow, before Link slammed the back of his fist into the back of the rebel's skull, knocking the man out.

As Link looked at the motionless rebel, he thought back to just moments before, when he saw the man's eyes. Link wondered to himself _'He looked like he wasn't completely here. Then a split second later he looked confused and…fearful?'_, he then shook his head dismissing it as nothing. "Well, might as well secure you for interrogation." he says as he lifts the unconscious rebel onto his shoulders.

The blond warsmith turned out of the alley, ready to head to a guard post to report what had happened, when one of the city gates began to open. Shouts were then heard form the wall as guards began to fight each other, soon explosions erupted through the city. Link's eyes widened at the sites and noises around him, "Damn! How'd enough rebels sneak in to do _this_!" shouted Link in frustration and anger. Pulling his key our and rushing by several buildings, he leaned the spear against the wall, quickly unlocking the door before again grabbing the spear and entering.

Leaning the spear against the wall after lowering the robed rebel to the floor, and reminding himself to return the spear to the city guard, Link hurriedly grabbing some rope to tie up his "guest". Tying the rebels ankles and wrists, Link rushed to where he kept his personal weapon that he had created. Link ran into his adjacent bedroom and grabbed the sword from where it sits next to his bed. A finely grafted iron sword, the kind of weapon Link is most comfortable with. He is adequately skilled in all weapons, but swords are his weapon of choice. The warsmith made this blade as well as a smith could make a blade with iron.

He then unlocked and pulled open a chest that he had at the foot of his bed. Inside is chain mail which he quickly puts on over his shirt. He then put on a chain cap, the mail hanging over the sides of his face. His boots were technically already armored, having an iron toe, which is an iron plate over the toe of the boot, used to protect himself if something heavy were to fall on his foot while he worked. Link then strapped on a banded iron buckler, which is reinforced by bands of steel on the side strapped to the arm, to his right arm.

Link then buckled the sheath to his back and now had his sword gripped in his left hand as he exited his house. Around a hundred rebel soldiers and monsters had already entered through the closest gate, not to mention the rebels disguised as guards. More guards were already arriving on the scene, and Link knows that knights and regular army will soon arrive as well as more guards.

The armored warsmith charges into the fray, slashing, ducking, blocking, and smashing his buckler into foes. Making sure to stay in motion, though Link goal isn't to take out the invading forces, that would be foolish for one man who is currently in the midst of the enemy. No, he wanted to help relieve the wall, for in either their arrogance or incompetence, the rebels have not flooded up on the walls, leaving only their brethren disguised as guards to deal with it. Ducking a thrust and slashing a soldier across the stomach, then stabbing a large spider through the face, Link continued rushing through crowd of enemies.

Grabbing an arm and throwing one rebel into another, smashing his buckler into the face of another before stabbing. Link could now hear hectic battle behind him, assuming a large for of guards or army arrived. Knocking one strike down only to duck under another and coming up with a slash. His movement is becoming slower as he's getting more crowded. He then ducks under a spear thrust while spinning with his blade swinging out. The powerful attack killing numerous enemies including a couple strange pig faced monsters wielding weapons. A near invisible force also erupted from the spin, forcing back his enemies as well as injuring them with its blunt force, only seen through its slight disruption of light.

The warsmith immediately dashed through, running up steps to the wall before finally making it. Link could already see several dead and several fights along the wall, though a larger fight was taking place above the opened gate. He could see many more rebels out side the walls, and it looks as if the other gates were open as well, as he thought would be the case. He ran by several cannons on his way towards the nearest group of guards, seeing one drop in front of him with a bolt sticking from his chest. Links eyes darted towards one guard standing in front of him with several dead guards laying at his feet. As soon Link see the crossbow in the guard's hands he drops, raising his buckler up, forcing the bolt fired to skid along the surface and sail over his dropping shoulder. His heart beating fast, thanking the goddesses that his body reacted that quickly. Pushing himself forward in a roll while another bolt strikes where he just was. He comes out of the roll with an upward swing, but the guard catches it with the crossbow. The warsmith rises completely up, punching the disguised guard, who stumbles back allowing link to finish him with a slash to the neck.

Link comes upon the fighting above the gate just as one of the guards trying to fight to the gate mechanism stumbles back in injury. Another guard rushes out going in for the kill, except Link's blade swings out over the injured guard stopping the attack. Then, putting more strength into his blade, pushing the disguised rebel back, rushing him and ducking under a wild swing and slashing though the man's under arm before turning around and impaling his blade through the rebel's spine.

With Link helping them the guards easily defeated the hand full of rebels and pulled the lever, closing the gate to the merchants district. Now with the inflow of rebels and monsters stopped, and more soldiers and guards reinforcing the area, the enemy was finished, at least at that gate. Crossbow bolts, arrows, and cannon fire clear the area outside the wall. Though the noise of cannon fire caused the rebel forces elsewhere fight more fiercely knowing one section of the city was won by Hyrule.

Soon after though dread fell upon the forces of Hyrule as an explosion was heard coming from the castle. Link rushed forward with grim determination, taking a horse from a nearby stable and leaping on it bare back, galloping of down the street towards the castle.

* * *

The metal on his body clinking as Link jumped off the horse, landing on the wooden planks below. This area was used as dock, but there were also buildings sitting on the structure as well, striking out into the lake surrounding the castle. Hoping into a rowboat Link set out for the castle as fast as he could.


End file.
